Kochi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Thursday urged the Kerala government to act swiftly in resolving the Waqf land dispute in Munambam and appealed to them not to turn it into a communal issue. Residents in Cherai and Munambam in Ernakulam district allege that the “Waqf Board has been unlawfully claiming” their land and property, despite them holding registered deeds and land tax receipts.Protesters from Munambam village have urged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to find a lasting solution to their ongoing land dispute with the Waqf Board.Interacting with reporters after visiting the locals who have been on a hunger strike for the past 96 days, Tharoor said, “It’s not a Muslim-Christian issue, it’s a technical-legal issue and should be resolved in that way.””So let’s not make it a communal conflict. It’s an administrative, legal confusion which should be clarified in the earliest possible moment,” he said while urging the state government to act immediately to resolve the issue.The MP from Thiruvananthapuram said, “My appeal is no one should wait much more and the state government should not delay in establishing the facts on file what is happened.””Whatever judicial process has already begun should be expeditiously concluded so that these people should get their lands,” he added.Responding to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remark that India got “true independence” after the Ram temple consecration, Tharoor said, “Independence was won with a lot of sacrifices and hard work of a lot of people in our minds, starting with Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation.”Bhagawat may have several other ways of being happy in his political career or political interests but it’s not the right category in which it was discussed, he added.How can any responsible Indian denigrate the achievements of freedom fighters who have given their lives in several cases as well as their freedom in British jails to fight for the freedom that we take for granted today, he posed.Welcoming the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, the former union minister said, durable and permanent peace should be established.
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